Conventional ballistic body armor implements one or more ballistic plates strategically positioned to overlie a corresponding body region to be protected. For example, a conventional ballistic body armor vest includes a fabric shell that houses at least a ballistic chest plate. The chest plate is supported within the fabric shell such that when a user wears the vest, the chest plate overlies and protects a chest region of the user.
When a fired projectile strikes a body armor ballistic plate, the projectile exerts a force on the ballistic plate. Ideally, the ballistic plate prevents a ballistic penetration and absorbs enough of the ballistic force to prevent serious blunt force trauma to the individual wearing the ballistic plate. However, in various circumstances certain degrees of ballistic force may still be transmitted to the individual and cause bodily injury. The degree of bodily injury suffered is generally directly proportional to the amount of ballistic force exerted on the individual.
In military operations, there is a need to provide efficient medical assistance to soldiers injured in the field. In this regard, it is imperative to quickly assess the extent of bodily injury suffered by a solider impacted by a fired projectile so that appropriate treatment actions may be taken quickly, particularly when there are multiple critically injured soldiers in need of treatment and limited medical resources are available. Accordingly, there is a need for improvements to conventional ballistic body armor to assist in enabling swift assessment of bodily injury experienced by an individual struck by a fired projectile, and thereby enable efficient provision of medical treatment.